Paper prepared for presentation

 at an English Training Conference in Jagodina, Serbia

 May 2008

Bobby Jean Houser

President, Founder; Training Workshops International (TWI) for the Children, Inc. USA ; Florida State University , Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education

Emily Hill

University of Michigan, USA; Norwich University, USA; TWI Advisory Board Member for Teaching English Speaking Skills Programs in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro

Look at Me – I’m Having Fun!

Children Learn the Way They are Taught

Abstract

Diversity: 1a.the fact or quality of being diverse: different. (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary)

The Magical teacher (Miss M.) is one who knows her teaching style, recognizes student’s learning styles (vision, hearing, touch, smell) and adapts the classroom environment and curriculum to include all students. In the pirate story, they hear the wind blowing, see the pirate, feel the feathers on the parrot perched on his shoulder and smell the chocolate he is eating. For her students with special needs, she considers their needs and adapts classroom activities to meet their needs of all the students. Miss M, I like to call her, knows her students and their parents and she encourages them to visit the class. She develops an organized plan or strategy and makes learning fun for a range of students within the classroom, whether the class is history, English as a second language or math.

Varying Teaching Techniques

(Literacy Missions Conversational English Workshop Manual)

As a parent, has your child ever come home from school and when asked, “What did you do at school today?” he answered, “Nothing”. While parents know this most likely isn’t the true answer, but as his teacher I would have preferred a different answer. Getting to the bottom of the “Nothing” answer, may not be as difficult as we think. Perhaps he came to school tired, maybe he was bored or upset with something that had happened the day before at school. Teachers need to know their students so that we can be prepared to help them on their not-so-good days. Having a general knowledge about our students is the key to developing a good teacher-student relationship. I call this the “4 Gs”: (1) Get to know my students, their parents and their previous teachers; (2) Gather general information about their personal history such as who is the student with special needs or emotional problems that could lead to learning difficulties (3) Gauge or evaluate the different personalities in the classroom to determine if there are classroom bullies or children with anger management problems; (4) Gingerly (with care) prepare lesson plans  that adapt easily to a range of children and to changing situations.  Two valuable tools that help teachers understand their students better are talking to their former teachers and having frequent meetings or telephone conversations with their parents.

Over 30 years ago schools in America opened their doors to children with special needs. There were concerns voiced by teachers and parents who questioned if this would change the face of teaching. Would this put such a burden on the classroom teacher that the quality of education would be harmed? After all these years, we are still asking this question.  Fortunately, over the years we had opportunities to attend seminars to teach how to adapt the classroom environment and curriculum to include a range of children.  Responding to diversity in teaching young learners continues to be an issue that is close to the hearts of teachers, parents and the entire Education System in America . Inclusion requires thoughtful work on the part of teachers and administrators as we prepare our lesson plans and set up our classrooms for the school year.

For many years, I have been involved in teaching (ELS) English Language Skills to children and adults who speak other languages and ten years ago I was invited to bring this program to Balkans. The purpose of the project was to develop a series of programs for orphanages and schools that taught Basic English Speaking Skills with American university age students partnering with in-country university students to teach the classes. Using young adults as teachers brought a different feeling to the classroom atmosphere. The Directors wanted the children to be serious about learning English speaking skills, but they did not want it to feel like school. While the month-long program in the orphanages took place in May when the children were still in school, the two-week program in the schools took place in June at the end of the school year.  Classes included a range of children, therefore developing a Lesson Plan took care and creativity. In one of the orphanages, many of the children had special needs, which meant that timing and ingenuity was key to our planning. The young students were excited to come to class, because they thought of it as fun and a place to sing, listen to stories and play games. However, the teenagers had had enough of school after the day was over and having to attend “another class” was far from fun to them. Indeed, responding to this range of diverse students required pre-planning and a good natured teacher! However by making English a part of their everyday life, we were able to teach by incorporating sports, fishing, movies, fashions and other topics into the teaching outline.

My teaching goal is to make learning to speak a second language fun, simple and to do it in such a way that success is easy and that students leave their first day in the classroom able to say something English. I want students to go home that very first day and when asked, “What did you learn today?” they can reply in English. Their reply may not be a complete sentence, but to the ear of the waiting parent it is musical. How can it not be called success when, after his first day in class he looks into the faces of his family as they sit around the dinner table and with bright eyes say, “Zip It” or “Sit” or “Stand”! These are not complete sentences, but his family will be filled with pride that their child is speaking English. Instant success takes away the fear of learning something new and gives the encouragement so important to learning. Activities focus on learning to listen, watch and act out words. In most cases, students are able to say one word or phrase their first day. In the beginning, I am not interested in teaching grammar, because that takes practice and students have to think about conjugating the verb, selecting the noun. I want them to concentrate on hearing and watching the action that goes with the word. I want them relaxed and having a good time listening before they realize they are speaking English. I want them to embrace the words and to feel successful right away. In the early part of the class, it isn’t how they say it but that they actually say something in English. For example, when I ask, “Who is going with me?” and a student raises his hand and says, “Me go”, I am thrilled. The important thing is that he knows that, if I turn and walk to the door and ask “Who is going with me?” he has an idea of what I am saying and he knows that he is going to follow me when he replies, “Me go”. I like to call this a conversation in progress.

I love using music as part of classroom learning, because it relaxes everyone and it takes away the tension that often comes in learning something new. Children’s songs and nursery rhymes are simple, the words are easy to pronounce and both the music and the lyrics are fun to hear.  I like to use maps that I put on the wall, because everyone likes to think about where they came from, where they live, places they would like to visit. Having the class make a “Neighborhood Map” and cutting pictures from magazines of people, cars, boats, houses, trees, a grocery store, a police station, a school that they can take turns putting on the map makes learning easier because they are talking about familiar places and things. Soon they are saying “house”, then “the house”, then “my house” and finally “this is my house” as they pin their house on the neighborhood map. Working with teenage students has to be a true work of love, but it is truly joyful when they succumb to the English language. In one particular case when the class at the orphanage was scheduled for after school and the teens had to come straight from school to our class, the boys rebelled. The boys simply did not come to class and instead went fishing. When we finally found them they were fishing at the seaside fishing area nearby. Aha, we had them now, because we knew what they loved to do. Because the orphanage where we were teaching was located right on the seaside, school clothes were quickly replaced with bathing suits. Knowing where the boys were and adapting our lesson plan to fit a new classroom area, we put on our bathing suits and headed to the fishing spot. For the next couple of hours, we learned how to fish – in two languages – “their” language and in English. From that revolt by the boys, we learned that adapting to their needs was the secret ingredient. Why make learning difficult when you can have fun learning?  Of course, we cannot always be so flexible as changing into a bathing suit to teach, but we can change into costumes, change the class atmosphere, play a game.

 These are some of the teaching strategies that have helped me teach English language conversational skills.

1.Adapting the Classroom Environment

• Consider the student’s senses (vision, hearing, touch and smell)
• Decide the best sitting arrange (front or back of the room, back to the window, beside the teacher’s desk, away from noise, away from the window looking out to the playground or by the hallway)
• Select the desks for the classroom (consider a large table where a group of students sit together, a lap top desk, a wheel chair accessible desk with  additional space for a student in a wheel chair)
• Assist the students in organizing their desk (pencil box, place for books, for a student with special needs have the daily schedule on his desk)
• Vary classroom seating arrangements. Set up activities where they sit at their desk and for other activities change to sit in a circle in chairs, other times on the floor, sometimes take the classroom outside for a class under the trees

2.Adapting the Classroom Presentation

• Vary the style of presenting, using multi-sensory examples (write home work assignment on the board, another time read the assignment and ask them to write it in their notebook, or hand out the assignment for the next day on a Home Work Assignment Paper for them to read and take home)
• Walk around the room as you talk (stand by the desk of the student who you know has difficulties listening, lay your hand lightly on the shoulder of the student who is talking, ask students to repeat the instructions you gave or ask a question about a statement you made)
• Keep instructions simple and modify your pace (slowing down for difficult to understand parts of the story or directions, speaking more rapidly at other times)
• Change the room arrangement during the day to add interest and fun to different topics (small discussion groups to answer questions after a story you read, have groups gather by colors of their shirts or color of their shoes, group them by color of their hair)
• Consider the students with special needs (allow time for students with physical disabilities to move into place, for those with visual impairment highlight materials and sit where they see best)
• Involve the students in the teaching. Role play working in a store where students are customers or cashiers, in a restaurant where they can be waitresses or customers ordering from a menu they prepared as a group earlier in the day, wear costumes to tell a story, divide the room into learning centers where one group can make the menu and the other group prepares the room to look like a restaurant while the other group cuts out food items from magazines brought from home

3. Adapting Classroom Material

• Use different types of materials. Reading aloud, listening to a tape recorder, cut pictures out of a magazine, draw pictures and color them
• Adapt materials for the student with a special needs such as a larger pencil, special scissors, colored markers in the place of crayons, erasable pens

4. Adaptive Teacher Assistance

• Call on students to assist with the daily activities (to be a helper, hand out papers, read the home work assignment at the end of the day, serve as group leaders for small group activities, be a model for other students to observe)
• Ask responsible students to partner with fellow students. Help classmates who may be having difficulties with reading or math problems, call on them to serve as a partner for the student with special needs, ask them to take the daily roll in the morning and to read the homework assignment at the end of the day

5. Adapting Teaching Goals

• Community trips as part of the classroom activities (visit the grocery store as a part of the Health Study, visit a parent’s office as part of the People in the Community Study, visit an Italian restaurant as part of the History Study)
• Arrange for a Career Day (send home a letter asking parents to volunteer to come to their child’s classroom to talk about their career)
• Select a book and act out the story (ask the children to bring costumes or items from home that can be used to make costumes such as sheets or towels or scarves and each student can select a character from the story and during this part of the classroom they wear their costume)

Strategies on Motivating Students

(Tools for Teaching English Language Skills)

Some students seem to simply come to the classroom each day enthusiastic about learning English, but others arrive needing or expecting the teacher to assure them that learning a new language can be interesting, worthwhile and fun. Instead of simply teaching words, grammar and spelling, a technique that has worked well is using themes as a way to get all of the students involved. Interactive teaching is ideal for teaching  Basic English Language Speaking Skills. Through art, games, color groups, family interviews students see the words. In this style of teaching, small groups are working on  different topics that they will later teach to the rest of the class. For example, the yellow group can be collecting magazines and cutting out pictures that relate to the theme; the green group, at the same time, is painting a mural using colors of the landscape of the area that deals with the theme; the red group is putting together the interviews that all of the students had with their parents to post on the bulletin board. So here we have the teacher teaching English through the Pirate Story she told the class last week and the students in each color group are preparing to teach their classmates different things that relate to the trip the Pirate took. Finally, all of the students go home everyday and tell their family about what everybody is doing in class. The color groups become circles of teaching that spread from circle to circle and outward from family to family. Through interactive teaching activities, students become assistant teachers and teach each others.

Selecting the theme plays one of the most important roles in lesson planning. Topics that students relate to are usually the most successful. For example, the 2008 Olympic Games will, not only be on worldwide TV, but also on local TV and radio stations, in the newspaper and magazines. When local athletes participate, students feel that they are a part of the Games. Using the Olympic Games as a theme means that we can virtually travel around the world with our students. For those students who think learning English is a waste of time, they will be surprised when they hear local and international athletes being interviewed in English! Activities can include visits to the local food stores to look for food shipped in from countries around the world; new words and phrases will be learned, words like Olympic size pool, the Olympic spirit, good sportsmanship. Using the Games as a background, students can talk with their family about their own country of origin. For example, select the activity “Where Did I Come From” which adds a personal interest to the Games. Perhaps a student will discover his ancestors came from one of the countries participating. When students become involved in the learning activity and they have a personal interest in it, learning comes to life.

It is a fun experiment to tell the students that for their first assignment they will all become Journalists and their job is to interview family members to gather information about their ancestors. Questions could include (1) where did our ancestors come from, (2) what kind of homes they lived in, (3) what they looked like and does anyone in the family today resemble them. Once the interview takes place, the students share the family information with the class. The second assignment is for everyone (1) to select a colored piece of paper from the “Where Did I Come From Box” and on one side write their name and on the other side write the name of their country of origin; (2) teacher calls one name at a time and the student responds saying, “I am from (country); and (3) goes to the World Map and pins his paper on the country. Once this is completed, the next assignment is for the students to play the quiz game “Do You Know Where I Come From”. Once the teacher reviews the countries of the world with the class, she explains the rules of the game (1) students raise their hand and when selected goes to the map and selects one of the colored papers, reads the name on it and says, “Marko is from Greece”, the next student goes to the board and says “Sanja is from Serbia”, etc. until everyone has been ‘found’. Turning the quiz into a game gives the opportunity for them to read the name, but to put words together in sentence form by saying, “Marko is from Greece ”.

This activity gives the teacher an opportunity to introduce the Olympic Games. Teacher explains that athletes come from all of the places marked with the colored papers, as well as many other countries, will travel to China this summer to participate in the Games. Future assignments can include collecting newspaper and magazine articles that show pictures of local atheletes. The children will be especially excited when their country announces the athletes who will be on the team to represent their country. The Olympic Games, as part of the “Where Did I Come From” project, can include dividing the class into groups with each group having a topic to research at the Library. Each group selects books to bring back to the classroom where they put their part of the presentation together. Once they have completed their group research, each group presents their topic. Group activities can include (1) green group invites several parents to come in and tell about their family origin; (2) red group brings scrapes of material from home to make costumes similar to the dress worn in ancient Greece ; blue group decorates a corner of the room to look like a market square in China .

While there is no magic formula for motivating students, there are certainly some techniques that can inspire them to be creative and to use their imaginations. Gone are the days when the classroom has to be still, quiet and with little or no movement. Today learning is moving around and having fun! I like to call this organized chaos.

Some ways to motivate students include;

·         Compliment them on their work and encourage them to use their imagination

·         Give instant positive feedback to give support to students so that they believes that they can do the task

·         Create an atmosphere in the classroom that is open, friendly and lends to student creativity

·         Promote a feeling that the activity has meaning and is useful to them personally

·         Encourage students to feel that each one of them is a valued member of the team

·         Assign tasks that each student can do successfully, not too easy and not too difficult and adapt it for the student(s) with special needs

Maintaining a well-organized classroom and using good teaching techniques everyday motivates students more than talking about motivation. Developing programs that promote learning will encourage self-motivation. What happens in the classroom  influences our students and will change their level of motivation for better or for worse.

Games, Stories and Activities that Teach Students

(Literacy Missions Conversational English Workshop Manual)

Through the use of games, stories and activities, learning becomes fun and exciting. In this list, there are some ideas for the entire class to be involved in and others that can be used for small groups. The teaching tools can be adapted for a range of students.

1. Circle Group Activity: I am going on a trip.

·         Purpose: To teach everyday words using items that we would take on a trip - shoes, toothbrush, bathing suit, shirt, comb, etc.; to encourages students to learn new words and to gradually turn words into sentences; to promote memory skills

·         Group setting: Divide the class into small circle groups (in a class of 35 students, you could divide the class into 4 groups of 8 or 9 students)

·         Tools needed for this activity: none

·         How to set up the activity: #1. Explain the rules for setting up for the game – (1) teacher will give a number between 1 and 9; (2) you must remember your number; (3) remain seated until the counting has been completed; (4) once everyone has a number, teacher will call each number one by one; (5) raise your hand when teacher calls your number and keep it up; (6) teacher will now tell this group to go quietly and sit down where she is pointing; (7) this will continue until all of the groups have gone to their place in the room;  (8) teacher says, “Now that we have gone over the rules of this game, we are ready to get into our groups and go to our spot in the room.  #2. Teacher begins the counting and once students are all in place she asks them to form a circle and remain seated.

·         Explain the rules of the game – (1) each circle group is going on an imaginary trip, but before you can go you must pack your suitcase with the things you will need on your trip (2) Explain that one person talks at a time and when she has said what she is taking then she looks at the person to her “right” (3) Then that person repeats the items that have been said by the people before her and then adds what she wants to take (4) No one can take an item that has already been said - each person must take something different (5) Remind students that they remain seated during the game.

·          Test Start – Using one circle group to show the others. (1) the designated students in each circle starts the game by saying, “I am going on a trip and I am going to take shoes.” He turns to the person to his ‘right’ and this person says, “I am going on a trip and I am going to take shoes and a shirt”. He turns to the person to his ‘right’ and this person says, “I am going on a trip and I am going to take shoes, a shirt and a toothbrush” (2) no item can be repeated (3) others in the circle group can help a student in his same group who cannot think of an item or doesn’t know the word in English by pointing to a piece of clothing, a piece of jewelry someone is wearing, to their shoes, etc.  And so it continues until everyone in all of the circle groups have “completed their packing”.

·         Before you officially begin the game, have a sample game with the group nearest you, saying that we will have a short practice trip. Teacher starts the sample game by saying, “I am going on a trip and ……” and one student in the circle group follows her.  Once everyone understands how to play, then the game can begin by saying “Let’s go on a trip!”

2. Story and Quiz: Tell a Story and Follow Up with Questions about People and

    Events in the Story

(1)   Purpose: The purpose of the story can be to simply have story time after outdoor play; to teach a lesson such as playground good manners or personal hygiene habits to teach a lesson; or to use as a way to introduce a classroom  study theme such as the Continents of the World or the Olympic Games  

(2)   Group setting: The room can be divided into working areas where students move or rotate from one area to another. For example, one group takes their turn painting or coloring their part of a wall mural; the other group works on making their costume; another group cuts out pictures from magazines or travel brochures that show pictures pertaining to the project theme, such as beach scenes and scenes of the countryside. Then the groups rotate so that all students complete all the activities

(3)   Tools needed for this activity or project: The book selected by the Storyteller that sets the theme for the future projects and activities; scissors, pencils, crayons or paints; travel magazines and brochures; scrapes of fabric brought from home or that is donated by a local store to make costumes; a soft, plush ball for the Quiz

(4)   How to set up the activity: Select a book and the story that best suits the purpose for reading it to the class. Decide if when to tell the story, after outdoor play time where the purpose is to quiet and calm the students and there is no plan to expand the story into a project or if the intention is to set the stage for a class project. If the story is a lead up to a project or an activity, then the following ideas may be useful

·         Select a story that can be acted out by the teacher-Storyteller where she becomes one of the characters in the story as she either starts the story in a costume or changes into the costume as the story goes along. This teaching technique is similar to watching a magic show where the students actually step into the character in the story. It is an interesting and fun way to introduce a new project to the students 

·         Learn by watching is great fun for the students and when the Storyteller takes on the role of one of the characters, the story begins to come to life. For example, if the vocabulary words have to do with traveling (types of transportation such as trains, ships, airplanes or studying directions such as left, right, North, South, West, East), a pirate story that tells of the travels of a famous pirate and his travels is a fun and interesting way to introduce the theme

·         Expand the activities to include students selecting famous people from a period in the history allows them to use their imaginations and creativity

·         Bring people from the past to life by having the students become a famous person and make a costume similar to one that person would have worn. They can bring in scrapes of fabric from home or local fabric stores can be asked to donate scrapes of left over material that can be used to make costumes

·         Introduce art activities as a way to make research fun. If the project requires them to search for traditional clothes. They can make a mural for the wall that uses the  variety of colors seen in the fabrics of the clothing, as well as the colors seen in the landscape of the country as  the seasons change

·         Discuss the sounds of the country to include and play music typical of the country and region. Students can become the sounds of the countryside and cities by learning the sounds of the animals native to the area (sheep, cows, different birds) and the sounds of the rural parts of the area as compared to sounds in the city (car engines, horns blowing, people walking, buses and trains)

3. Quiz Game to Follow Storytelling any Activity (math, spelling, etc.)

    (1) Purpose: This type of asking questions takes away the anxiety some students feel

          when they have to answer a question in front of the class

(2)   Group setting: Can take place in any setting. For example, when the students are sitting at their desk, gathered on the floor for storytelling time, on the playground when rules of a game are being reviewed

(3)   Tools needed for this activity: (1) use a soft, plush ball as a way to select the student to answer the question instead of having them raise their hand; (2) prepare Personal Achievements Sheets that the students can mark as they achievements. (See #5 for My Personal Achievement Sheet); (3) have frequent small reward presentation or ceremonies for everyone at the end of the Q & A. This adds to the fun of this informal type of giving and gathering information. Celebrating knowledge encourages students of all ages to strive to do their best

(4)   How to set up the activity:

• Before the story begins, move the students from their regular classroom seating arrangement, if possible, and have them sit on the floor in front of the teacher-Storyteller. This may require that desk or tables be moved around, but this seating arrangement makes the atmosphere more intimate and as the story is told they begin to become a part of the adventures taking place.
• Setting the atmosphere in a way that they become a part of the story, adds to the involvement in the actions and soon they become one of the characters, they see in their mind’s eye the sights in the story and smell the fragrances that are a part of the adventures taking place. We want to “put them in the story”
• Often students are nervous and self-conscious when asked to raise their hand and answer a question. To take away the fear and apprehension that some students feel during this time and to simply add fun to the Q & A time, tossing the soft ball to the student takes the place of him having to raise his hand and is less intimidating
• Explain that there is a 3 part rule that all Storytellers have. I like to call this the Storytellers “Sit Down, Zip Your Lips, Raise Your Hand Rule”. Because listening is the important part of being invited to join the story group, there are three important action rules: (1) everyone has to sit quietly; (2) everyone must zip your lips just as you close the zipper on your jacket (and I gesture as though I am zipping up my jacket and then I do the same motion across my lips as though I am zipping my lips); and raise you hand if you want to answer the question I am going to ask
• Explain that you will tell or read the story and then start the Q & A. You will ask the question one person at a time with no one raising his hand. You will select the person to answer the question, by looking directly at one of them. At that time you will toss the ball to him and at that time he will answer the question. Give an example by selecting a student to act out the Q & A process with you: (1) ask a any question (for example, what color is the shirt you are wearing today?); (2) look directly at the student you want to answer this question (and quietly ask him if he sees that you are looking directly into his face and ask the group if they see who you are looking at to make sure that they understand what you are doing); (4) then toss the ball to him and at this time tell him you want him to answer your sample question by telling you the color of his shirt; (5) explain that if he does not know the answer the he is to toss the ball back to you; and at that time (6) you move on to another student following the same procedure
• In the beginning of this “toss the ball” Q & A time, you will want do it slowly but as the students get accustomed to this they will begin to think faster. This is a fun way to encourage students when first starting English Language classes. For example, explain that you will ask, “What is your name?” In the beginning they will be able to answer by saying, “Marko”, but as time goes on the will be able to answer, “My name is Marko”. Also, when they know that there is no pressure put on them answering when the first ball is tossed to them they will be more at ease when they are tossed the ball again as a second or third chance to answer the question.

4. Game or Interactive Activity – “Simon Says” - to promote “Thinking English”

    (1) Purpose: To promote “hearing, thinking, speaking English” and to gradually take

          away feelings of insecurity about speaking in front of other students

    (2) Group setting: Game can be played in the classroom, gym or on the playground.

    (3) Tools needed: none

    (4) How to set up the activity: Select the place where the game will take place.

• If in the classroom - push desks to the edge of the room so that there is a space

                large enough for all of the students to stand facing the teacher with hands

                spread outward

• If in the gym or on the playground, place the students at least arms length apart facing the teacher or “Simon”
• However, the game can be adapted for any size space
• Explain the rules of the game: (1) “Simon” the teacher or a student selected to be “Simon” stands in front of the group; (2) “Simon” will give directions by saying, “Simon Says….” and they must follow them exactly; (3) if, when “Simon” gives the command but does NOT say, “Simon Says….” no one has permission to move (for example, when the command is “Simon Says sit down” – everyone must sit down. When the command is “Sit down” – no one can move. However, if someone forgets the command rule and follows the command even when it is not a “Simon Says” command, then he must come to the front of the group and sit behind “Simon”
• Give several examples, saying to the group that we are going to do several commands that do not count to be sure that everyone understands the rules of the game. When the game is new to the group, “Simon” will speak slowly, however, as the students get more familiar with the game “Simon” will talk more quickly. Example commands: (1) “Simon Says sit down”; (2) “Simon Says stand up”; (3) Sit down ---- Now remind those who followed the command to Sit down did so without hearing “Simon Says sit down”!!!! So they must come to the front of the group and sit behind teacher
• For students who are new to the English Language classroom, the commands are simple and given slowly. “Simon” would be introduced to the students and perhaps teacher would wear a hat so that she becomes a real “Simon”. The word “Simon” would be learned, they would see that “Simon” the teacher wears a hat and they will remember the game when they see teacher wearing the hat. The phrase “Simon Says” is taught and then words that will be used in the commands will be added (stand, sit, jump, and clap). One “Simon Says” Game could review the names of the students where “Simon Says Marko stand”; “Simon Says Sanja sit”; “Simon Says clap”. Additional words can quickly be added to the game by simply acting out the new word. For example change “Simon Says stand” to “Simon Says stand up”, “Simon Says clap” to “Simon Says clap your hands”, “Simon Says jump” to “Simon Says jump up and down” to “Simon Says jump on 1 foot”, etc.
• There are no real penalties if you don’t follow “Simon’s” command, because when a student has to come to the front because he didn’t follow the command correctly, he becomes “Simon’s Assistant” and helps to watch for others who don’t listen well
• It is important in the beginning to return those who are out of the game back to the game so that they continue to be a part of the learning to listen, see, think and respond group
• This Game often becomes a must-do for the day, even if it is a quick game of “Simon Says”. The emphasis should always be put on the fun side of the game and never on any kind of punishment if they make a mistake. When a student loses his place in the group and has to come forward to sit behind “Simon”, this is done in fun
• Laughter is the key ingredient.

5. My Personal Achievement Chart

    (1) Purpose: To promote the desire to do one’s best and to be proud of his personal

          achievements and to show the teacher’s pride in their work and accomplishments.

    (2) Group setting: The “My Personal Achievement Chart” is taped to a student’s desk

          and he gives himself the marks as he accomplishes them

    (3) Tools needed: The “My Personal Achievement Chart”; colored pencils or colored

          Markers (1) The teacher makes copies of the small chart (small enough to be

          taped to fit on the corner edge of the desk) that she hands out to all of the children

(5)   How to set up for the activity: Have a sample on the black board in the front of the room.

·         Teacher will have prepared a “My Personal Achievement Chart” for each student

·         Explain that this will go at the top corner of their desk and when you hand them out you will also give them several pieces of tape

·         They can take out their pencils and colored markers, if they have them at their desks, or they can be passed out while the Charts are being handed out by the teacher

·         To use this as an English teaching activity where they will learn color names, explain that they can decorate their Chart with colored markers or colored pencils BUT they must select the color teacher calls out.

·         The design they select to make is their own, but they must use the colored marker as it’s color name is called out

·         Option: the students might want to make their design using a pencil in case they make a mistake or change their mind about the design. When everyone has completed his design, then teacher can pass out the colored markers. Remind them that no one starts coloring until the “color game” begins

·         When everyone has finished their work, tape can be handed out for them to use to tape the Chart on the corner of their desk or they can be put in their notebook

(6)   “My Personal Achievement Chart” (see below)

·         Students can now keep track of their own accomplishments at home or school.

·         They can chart daily or weekly responsibilities; individual student progress

·         For example, if a student answered a question in the Story Quiz, he would mark the square with an X under that day of the week. When the Chart is filled with checks, the student can take it home

(7)   Optional Chart: Instead of using the Personal Chart, it can be larger in order to put

       the names of all of the students in the class along the side of the Chart and the days

       of the week at the top

·         This can be used for marking homework assignments brought in on time

·         For rewarding good behavior – the student puts a mark in the correct square

·         For recording home or classroom assignments

    (8) My Personal Achievement Chart

(5)   BINGO – A Color Recognition Game

(1)   Purpose: To teach color recognition (Yellow, Red, Green, Blue); to be the first player to place 4 rounds of the same color on 4 circles of the same color as the rounds – in a arrow in any direction. See Figure 1 

(2)   Group setting: Students remain in their desks for the game; teacher calls

 out the colors

(3)   Tools needed: (1) 1-BINGO card for each student (2) Colored rounds in  each color (16 rounds for each card – 4 of each color per set of 4 Yellow, 4 Red, 4 Green, 4 Blue); (3) bowl to hold rounds that teacher uses to call out the colors

(4) How to set up for the activity:

·     Give a BINGO card to students and 1 set of colored rounds

·     Teacher stands by the bowl of colored rounds and pulls a round from the bowl, calling out the color of the round, for example “Yellow”

·     Student who has this color round, “Yellow”, places the Yellow round on one of the colored circles on his card that matches the color called out

·     If he cannot place a round because all of the matching colored circles have been filled, the player must wait for teacher to call out another color

          (5) To Win:

·       The first player to fill all of the circles in a row, in any direction, wins the game; students raise their hands when row is filled and he WINS the game. See figure 1

·       Option – “Fill the Card” option – challenge is for students to try to fill in all of the rows. The first player to “fill the card” raises his hand and he WINS the game.

MY NEIGHBORHOOD

PEOPLE IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

(1)   Purpose: To teach new words and phrases; promote awareness of people in the neighhborhood and friendliness; encourages the art of storytelling

(2)   How to set up for the activity: Use magazines to use for the Scene, people

·       Place scene on blackboard; children have figures to use in their story

·       Students come forward to tell their “own” story

References

Barbara Gross Davis (1993): Tools for Teaching, Jossey Bass Publishers: San Francisco (article)

Literacy Missions Conversational English Workshop Manual (1993): Home  

           Missions Board (manual)

Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary (1984): The Riverside Publishing Company

SPORT-TIME Physical Education (2008): Adapting Games for a Range of Children  (catalog); web site: www.lyris.sportime.com

 Prepared: 5/20/2008

Bobby Jean Houser

President, Founder; Training Workshops International (TWI) for the Children, Inc. USA ; Florida State University , Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education

Emily Hill

University of Michigan, USA; Norwich University, USA; TWI Advisory Board Member for Teaching English Speaking Skills Programs in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro

Look at Me – I’m Having Fun!

Children Learn the Way They are Taught

Abstract

Diversity: 1a.the fact or quality of being diverse: different. (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary)

The Magical teacher (Miss M.) is one who knows her teaching style, recognizes student’s learning styles (vision, hearing, touch, smell) and adapts the classroom environment and curriculum to include all students. In the pirate story, they hear the wind blowing, see the pirate, feel the feathers on the parrot perched on his shoulder and smell the chocolate he is eating. For her students with special needs, she considers their needs and adapts classroom activities to meet their needs of all the students. Miss M, I like to call her, knows her students and their parents and she encourages them to visit the class. She develops an organized plan or strategy and makes learning fun for a range of students within the classroom, whether the class is history, English as a second language or math.

Varying Teaching Techniques

(Literacy Missions Conversational English Workshop Manual)

As a parent, has your child ever come home from school and when asked, “What did you do at school today?” he answered, “Nothing”. While parents know this most likely isn’t the true answer, but as his teacher I would have preferred a different answer. Getting to the bottom of the “Nothing” answer, may not be as difficult as we think. Perhaps he came to school tired, maybe he was bored or upset with something that had happened the day before at school. Teachers need to know their students so that we can be prepared to help them on their not-so-good days. Having a general knowledge about our students is the key to developing a good teacher-student relationship. I call this the “4 Gs”: (1) Get to know my students, their parents and their previous teachers; (2) Gather general information about their personal history such as who is the student with special needs or emotional problems that could lead to learning difficulties (3) Gauge or evaluate the different personalities in the classroom to determine if there are classroom bullies or children with anger management problems; (4) Gingerly (with care) prepare lesson plans  that adapt easily to a range of children and to changing situations.  Two valuable tools that help teachers understand their students better are talking to their former teachers and having frequent meetings or telephone conversations with their parents.

Over 30 years ago schools in America opened their doors to children with special needs. There were concerns voiced by teachers and parents who questioned if this would change the face of teaching. Would this put such a burden on the classroom teacher that the quality of education would be harmed? After all these years, we are still asking this question.  Fortunately, over the years we had opportunities to attend seminars to teach how to adapt the classroom environment and curriculum to include a range of children.  Responding to diversity in teaching young learners continues to be an issue that is close to the hearts of teachers, parents and the entire Education System in America . Inclusion requires thoughtful work on the part of teachers and administrators as we prepare our lesson plans and set up our classrooms for the school year.

For many years, I have been involved in teaching (ELS) English Language Skills to children and adults who speak other languages and ten years ago I was invited to bring this program to Balkans. The purpose of the project was to develop a series of programs for orphanages and schools that taught Basic English Speaking Skills with American university age students partnering with in-country university students to teach the classes. Using young adults as teachers brought a different feeling to the classroom atmosphere. The Directors wanted the children to be serious about learning English speaking skills, but they did not want it to feel like school. While the month-long program in the orphanages took place in May when the children were still in school, the two-week program in the schools took place in June at the end of the school year.  Classes included a range of children, therefore developing a Lesson Plan took care and creativity. In one of the orphanages, many of the children had special needs, which meant that timing and ingenuity was key to our planning. The young students were excited to come to class, because they thought of it as fun and a place to sing, listen to stories and play games. However, the teenagers had had enough of school after the day was over and having to attend “another class” was far from fun to them. Indeed, responding to this range of diverse students required pre-planning and a good natured teacher! However by making English a part of their everyday life, we were able to teach by incorporating sports, fishing, movies, fashions and other topics into the teaching outline.

My teaching goal is to make learning to speak a second language fun, simple and to do it in such a way that success is easy and that students leave their first day in the classroom able to say something English. I want students to go home that very first day and when asked, “What did you learn today?” they can reply in English. Their reply may not be a complete sentence, but to the ear of the waiting parent it is musical. How can it not be called success when, after his first day in class he looks into the faces of his family as they sit around the dinner table and with bright eyes say, “Zip It” or “Sit” or “Stand”! These are not complete sentences, but his family will be filled with pride that their child is speaking English. Instant success takes away the fear of learning something new and gives the encouragement so important to learning. Activities focus on learning to listen, watch and act out words. In most cases, students are able to say one word or phrase their first day. In the beginning, I am not interested in teaching grammar, because that takes practice and students have to think about conjugating the verb, selecting the noun. I want them to concentrate on hearing and watching the action that goes with the word. I want them relaxed and having a good time listening before they realize they are speaking English. I want them to embrace the words and to feel successful right away. In the early part of the class, it isn’t how they say it but that they actually say something in English. For example, when I ask, “Who is going with me?” and a student raises his hand and says, “Me go”, I am thrilled. The important thing is that he knows that, if I turn and walk to the door and ask “Who is going with me?” he has an idea of what I am saying and he knows that he is going to follow me when he replies, “Me go”. I like to call this a conversation in progress.

I love using music as part of classroom learning, because it relaxes everyone and it takes away the tension that often comes in learning something new. Children’s songs and nursery rhymes are simple, the words are easy to pronounce and both the music and the lyrics are fun to hear.  I like to use maps that I put on the wall, because everyone likes to think about where they came from, where they live, places they would like to visit. Having the class make a “Neighborhood Map” and cutting pictures from magazines of people, cars, boats, houses, trees, a grocery store, a police station, a school that they can take turns putting on the map makes learning easier because they are talking about familiar places and things. Soon they are saying “house”, then “the house”, then “my house” and finally “this is my house” as they pin their house on the neighborhood map. Working with teenage students has to be a true work of love, but it is truly joyful when they succumb to the English language. In one particular case when the class at the orphanage was scheduled for after school and the teens had to come straight from school to our class, the boys rebelled. The boys simply did not come to class and instead went fishing. When we finally found them they were fishing at the seaside fishing area nearby. Aha, we had them now, because we knew what they loved to do. Because the orphanage where we were teaching was located right on the seaside, school clothes were quickly replaced with bathing suits. Knowing where the boys were and adapting our lesson plan to fit a new classroom area, we put on our bathing suits and headed to the fishing spot. For the next couple of hours, we learned how to fish – in two languages – “their” language and in English. From that revolt by the boys, we learned that adapting to their needs was the secret ingredient. Why make learning difficult when you can have fun learning?  Of course, we cannot always be so flexible as changing into a bathing suit to teach, but we can change into costumes, change the class atmosphere, play a game.

 These are some of the teaching strategies that have helped me teach English language conversational skills.

1.Adapting the Classroom Environment

• Consider the student’s senses (vision, hearing, touch and smell)
• Decide the best sitting arrange (front or back of the room, back to the window, beside the teacher’s desk, away from noise, away from the window looking out to the playground or by the hallway)
• Select the desks for the classroom (consider a large table where a group of students sit together, a lap top desk, a wheel chair accessible desk with  additional space for a student in a wheel chair)
• Assist the students in organizing their desk (pencil box, place for books, for a student with special needs have the daily schedule on his desk)
• Vary classroom seating arrangements. Set up activities where they sit at their desk and for other activities change to sit in a circle in chairs, other times on the floor, sometimes take the classroom outside for a class under the trees

2.Adapting the Classroom Presentation

• Vary the style of presenting, using multi-sensory examples (write home work assignment on the board, another time read the assignment and ask them to write it in their notebook, or hand out the assignment for the next day on a Home Work Assignment Paper for them to read and take home)
• Walk around the room as you talk (stand by the desk of the student who you know has difficulties listening, lay your hand lightly on the shoulder of the student who is talking, ask students to repeat the instructions you gave or ask a question about a statement you made)
• Keep instructions simple and modify your pace (slowing down for difficult to understand parts of the story or directions, speaking more rapidly at other times)
• Change the room arrangement during the day to add interest and fun to different topics (small discussion groups to answer questions after a story you read, have groups gather by colors of their shirts or color of their shoes, group them by color of their hair)
• Consider the students with special needs (allow time for students with physical disabilities to move into place, for those with visual impairment highlight materials and sit where they see best)
• Involve the students in the teaching. Role play working in a store where students are customers or cashiers, in a restaurant where they can be waitresses or customers ordering from a menu they prepared as a group earlier in the day, wear costumes to tell a story, divide the room into learning centers where one group can make the menu and the other group prepares the room to look like a restaurant while the other group cuts out food items from magazines brought from home

3. Adapting Classroom Material

• Use different types of materials. Reading aloud, listening to a tape recorder, cut pictures out of a magazine, draw pictures and color them
• Adapt materials for the student with a special needs such as a larger pencil, special scissors, colored markers in the place of crayons, erasable pens

4. Adaptive Teacher Assistance

• Call on students to assist with the daily activities (to be a helper, hand out papers, read the home work assignment at the end of the day, serve as group leaders for small group activities, be a model for other students to observe)
• Ask responsible students to partner with fellow students. Help classmates who may be having difficulties with reading or math problems, call on them to serve as a partner for the student with special needs, ask them to take the daily roll in the morning and to read the homework assignment at the end of the day

5. Adapting Teaching Goals

• Community trips as part of the classroom activities (visit the grocery store as a part of the Health Study, visit a parent’s office as part of the People in the Community Study, visit an Italian restaurant as part of the History Study)
• Arrange for a Career Day (send home a letter asking parents to volunteer to come to their child’s classroom to talk about their career)
• Select a book and act out the story (ask the children to bring costumes or items from home that can be used to make costumes such as sheets or towels or scarves and each student can select a character from the story and during this part of the classroom they wear their costume)

Strategies on Motivating Students

(Tools for Teaching English Language Skills)

Some students seem to simply come to the classroom each day enthusiastic about learning English, but others arrive needing or expecting the teacher to assure them that learning a new language can be interesting, worthwhile and fun. Instead of simply teaching words, grammar and spelling, a technique that has worked well is using themes as a way to get all of the students involved. Interactive teaching is ideal for teaching  Basic English Language Speaking Skills. Through art, games, color groups, family interviews students see the words. In this style of teaching, small groups are working on  different topics that they will later teach to the rest of the class. For example, the yellow group can be collecting magazines and cutting out pictures that relate to the theme; the green group, at the same time, is painting a mural using colors of the landscape of the area that deals with the theme; the red group is putting together the interviews that all of the students had with their parents to post on the bulletin board. So here we have the teacher teaching English through the Pirate Story she told the class last week and the students in each color group are preparing to teach their classmates different things that relate to the trip the Pirate took. Finally, all of the students go home everyday and tell their family about what everybody is doing in class. The color groups become circles of teaching that spread from circle to circle and outward from family to family. Through interactive teaching activities, students become assistant teachers and teach each others.

Selecting the theme plays one of the most important roles in lesson planning. Topics that students relate to are usually the most successful. For example, the 2008 Olympic Games will, not only be on worldwide TV, but also on local TV and radio stations, in the newspaper and magazines. When local athletes participate, students feel that they are a part of the Games. Using the Olympic Games as a theme means that we can virtually travel around the world with our students. For those students who think learning English is a waste of time, they will be surprised when they hear local and international athletes being interviewed in English! Activities can include visits to the local food stores to look for food shipped in from countries around the world; new words and phrases will be learned, words like Olympic size pool, the Olympic spirit, good sportsmanship. Using the Games as a background, students can talk with their family about their own country of origin. For example, select the activity “Where Did I Come From” which adds a personal interest to the Games. Perhaps a student will discover his ancestors came from one of the countries participating. When students become involved in the learning activity and they have a personal interest in it, learning comes to life.

It is a fun experiment to tell the students that for their first assignment they will all become Journalists and their job is to interview family members to gather information about their ancestors. Questions could include (1) where did our ancestors come from, (2) what kind of homes they lived in, (3) what they looked like and does anyone in the family today resemble them. Once the interview takes place, the students share the family information with the class. The second assignment is for everyone (1) to select a colored piece of paper from the “Where Did I Come From Box” and on one side write their name and on the other side write the name of their country of origin; (2) teacher calls one name at a time and the student responds saying, “I am from (country); and (3) goes to the World Map and pins his paper on the country. Once this is completed, the next assignment is for the students to play the quiz game “Do You Know Where I Come From”. Once the teacher reviews the countries of the world with the class, she explains the rules of the game (1) students raise their hand and when selected goes to the map and selects one of the colored papers, reads the name on it and says, “Marko is from Greece”, the next student goes to the board and says “Sanja is from Serbia”, etc. until everyone has been ‘found’. Turning the quiz into a game gives the opportunity for them to read the name, but to put words together in sentence form by saying, “Marko is from Greece ”.

This activity gives the teacher an opportunity to introduce the Olympic Games. Teacher explains that athletes come from all of the places marked with the colored papers, as well as many other countries, will travel to China this summer to participate in the Games. Future assignments can include collecting newspaper and magazine articles that show pictures of local atheletes. The children will be especially excited when their country announces the athletes who will be on the team to represent their country. The Olympic Games, as part of the “Where Did I Come From” project, can include dividing the class into groups with each group having a topic to research at the Library. Each group selects books to bring back to the classroom where they put their part of the presentation together. Once they have completed their group research, each group presents their topic. Group activities can include (1) green group invites several parents to come in and tell about their family origin; (2) red group brings scrapes of material from home to make costumes similar to the dress worn in ancient Greece ; blue group decorates a corner of the room to look like a market square in China .

While there is no magic formula for motivating students, there are certainly some techniques that can inspire them to be creative and to use their imaginations. Gone are the days when the classroom has to be still, quiet and with little or no movement. Today learning is moving around and having fun! I like to call this organized chaos.

Some ways to motivate students include;

·        Compliment them on their work and encourage them to use their imagination

·        Give instant positive feedback to give support to students so that they believes that they can do the task

·        Create an atmosphere in the classroom that is open, friendly and lends to student creativity

·        Promote a feeling that the activity has meaning and is useful to them personally

·        Encourage students to feel that each one of them is a valued member of the team

·        Assign tasks that each student can do successfully, not too easy and not too difficult and adapt it for the student(s) with special needs

Maint